Apparatus for stemming artificial leaves and the like.



M. L. BEISTLE.

APPARATUS FOR STEMMING ARTIFICIAL LEAVES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23. 1914.

1,289,990. Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

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APPARATUS FOR STEMMING ARTIFICIAL LEAVES AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23, 19M.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

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I I F I I I I II II IIIIII HI I n I I IIIII IIIIIIIIII II I I B 0 Z o 0 t o 1 F6 0 I as :0. Murmur-w :l STE 4 MARTIN L. BEISTLE, OF SHIPPENSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR STEMMING ARTIFICIAL LEAVES AND THE LIKE.

Application filed November 23, 1914.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN L. Bnrsrnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Shippe-nsburg, in the county of Cumberland 5 and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Stemming Artificial Leaves and the like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for applying wire stems or the like to artificial leaves, cards or other similar articles.

The stemming of leaves has heretofore "been done by hand, and involved the cutting off of individual lengths of wire, dipping the length of wire into suitable adhesive, applying it to the leaf, and'holding it under pressure by hand until drying had taken place. These operations are necessarily very slow and the finished articles are not uniform.

By the present apparatus I provide for the feeding forward across a table of one or more strands of wire, which strands pass through an adhesive bath and are maintained in a-dj'ustably spaced relation. The leaves are placed on these strands of Wire, and fed forward with the feeding forward of the wire, into the field of operations of compressing means, drying means, cutting means, &c. The result is a practically continuous process, by which one operator can accomplish a considerable output of uniform articles, each with its wire applied securely along the whole length of the back.

The invention further contemplates the provision of an apparatus by which a plurality of continuous strands of covered wire or the like may be passed through a bath of adhesive, thence to a table, across which they extend in adjustably spaced relation and where the artificial leaves or the like are laid upon the wires, after which the wires with the leaves carried thereby are passed between suitable compression devices whereby the adhesion between the wire and leaf is perfected, thence to a place where drying is accomplished, and thence to a cutting device where the wires are severed between leaves.

A further object of the invention is to provide a means of the kind last referred to which, without any substantial change in its operating parts, may be adapted for use with leaves or "the like of different widths.

Still another object is to provide for use Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

Serial No. 873,467.

in a machine of the kind described, a travcling apron of fabric having its edges provided with means to engage the driving mechanism, which means also serve to maintain the fabric of the apron in a uniformly stretched condition.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less broad than those stated above, together with the advantages inherent, will be in part obvious and in part specifically referred to in the course of the following description of the elements, combinations, arrangements of parts, and applications of principles constituting the invention; and the scope of protection contemplated will appear from the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as part of this specification, and in which I have shown a merely preferred form of embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a sectional view with parts in elevation, taken on the line 11 of Fig. 3; Fig. 2 is a view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 3; Fig. 3 is a top plan View of an apparatus embodying my invention, certain of the parts being broken away. Fig. 4 is a detail illustrating the spacer bar; Fig. 5 is a detail showing the preferred form of apron with driven chain attached, and Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2, on the line 66 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 7 is a view of a length of one of the wires, with the cuts between leaves, and showing how the wire adheres to the full length of the leaf at back thereof, after it has gone through the machine.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, there is shown at 6 the frame work of a machine, in the lower part of which are mounted the reels 7 from which the several strands of preferably covered wire are drawn. The strands from these reels pass .over a corrugated roller 8. mounted on a shaft 9 that is suitably journaled in bearings in the machine frame, as shown. It will be apparent that the strands may be variously spaced apart by causing them to pass through different ones of the depressions in the corrugated roller. The shaft 9 also constitutes, in the embodiment illustrated, the driving shaft of the machine, and it is shown as being provided with a crank handle 10 whereby it may be intermittently or partially rotated. Adjacent to the roller 8 there is a trough-like member 11 which is adapted to contain a quantity of liquid adhesive, and which may be termed an adhesive bath. The wires from the various reels 7 pass over the roller 8 in adjustably spaced relation and thence downwardly into the adhesive bath 11, being given a downward direction within the bath by means of a deflector bar 12 which is detachably secured in the frame of the machine, as indicated in Fig. 1, and under which the several strands of wire pass. The forward wall of the bath 11 supports a toothed spacing member 14, or, if preferred, this toothed spacing member may be the front wall itself; I prefer, however, to make the spacer detachable. The teeth on this spacer member 14 correspond with the corrugations on the roller 8, so that the spacing of the strands of wire, accomplished by the particular way of positioning them on the roller 8, may be maintained with the spacer bar 14. That is to say, the wires, on emerging from the adhesive bath, pass over the spacer member 14, by way of the grooves between the teeth in the spacer bar. The adjustment of the distance between wires will depend of course upon the width of the leaves or other articles which are to be wired or stemmed, and it will be apparent that the provision of the teeth 15 in the spacer member 14, and of the corrugations on the roller 8, gives me a wide range. From the spacer member 14 the wires ex tend in spaced arrangement and in parallel, as shown in Fig. 3, over a table 16. Between this table 16 and the series of wires there is disposed the upper course of an endless apron 17, which passes around the rollers 18 and 19 formed on shafts 20 and 21. Somewhat to the rear of the roller 18 and table 16 there is another endless apron 22, which passes around rollers 24 and 25, roller 25 having a sprocket wheel 26 on its end, shown in Fi 2, and from which it is driven, and having another sprocket wheel 27 on its end, shown in Fig. 2, which drives the apron 22. The roller 24 is spring pressed toward a complementary roller 28, and the roller 25 is spring pressed toward a complementary roller 29. There is also a complementary spring pressed roller 30 cooperating with roller 19. The apron 22 has its rear end extending beyond the rear end of the apron 17, and beyond the rear end of the apron 22 there is still another endless apron 31, whose. upper course is substantially in line with the upper course of the apron 17 and with the lower course of the apron 22. 'This apron 31 is driven from a roller 32 which has a driving sprocket wheel 3.4 and a driven sprocket wheel 35, and there is a spring pressed roller 36 complementary to the roller 32. Similarly, at the rear end of the apron 31 there is a roller 37 having a driven sprocket wheel 37, and a complementary spring pressed roller 38.

Assuming that a series of wires 39 have been laid around the roller 8, under the deflector bar 12, in properly spaced relation over the spacer bar 14, between the upper course of the apron 17 and the lower course of the apron 22 and between the sets of compression rollers 24 and 28, 19 and 30, and 25 and 29, between the rollers 32 and 36, over the upper course of the apron 31, and between the rollers 37 and 38, the artificial leaves or other articles 100 are laid upon the wires 39 above the apron 17 and the table 16, in a row extending transversely across the apron. The shaft 9 is now rotated by means of a handle 10, and this rotation through the driving connections, shown in Figs. 2 and 6, causes the wires and leaves to advance uniformly towards the rear of the machine, passing first between the operating rollers 24 and 28, and the closely opposed faces of the endless aprons 17 and 22, and thence, with successive rotations of the shaft 9, as fresh rows of leaves are placed in position, passing'over a hot air blast pipe 23, thence between the rollers 25 and 29, 32 and 36, thence with the apron 31 between the rollers 37 and 28 to a suitable table 3-3, where the wires may be severed between the leaves as by means of a cutter 43. The function of the compres ing rolls is of course to force the leaves and wires into intimate contact, and the function of the aprons, in addition to their carrying and compressing functions, is to maintain the leaves in a fixed position relatively to the wires. That is to say, the leaves are caused to travel horizontally with the wires and twisting of the leaves around the wires is prevented Of course, after the leaves have passed through the device the adhesive will be dry and any such twisting will not be apt to take place. The parallel plurality of strands of wire, therefore, ad vance intermittently and synchronously, carrying with them the transverse rows of leaves, under conditions of pressure causing them to adhere together through the length of each leaf and preventing the separation of the leaves and wire while so advancing. After the leaves have advanced beyond the drying stage, there is, of course, no further danger of separation. The distance between successive rows of leaves is substantially equal to the length of projecting stem de sired for the finished article, and the cutter 43 is intermittentlyoperated to cut across the plurality of wires flush with the forward end of each leaf in a particular row, leaving a length of wire projecting beyond the other end of the leaf corresponding to the desired length of stem, as aforesaid.

The drive of the machine is accomplished as indicated in Figs. 2 and 6. As shown in Fig. 2, there is on the right hand side of the machine (considered with reference to Fig. 3), a sprocket chain 40 which runs over a sprocket wheel 41 on the shaft 9, and also over the sprocket wheel 34 on the roller 32. This sprocket chain 40 also serves to drive the sprocket wheel 26 which is carried on the roller 25, whereby, through the intermediary of the sprocket wheel 27 the apron 22 is driven in the direction indicated by the arrow. The chain 40 also engages a sprocket wheel 42 carried on the roller 19, whereby the drive of the apron 17 is accomplished, and there is also provided an adjustable tension device 44. The rearmost apron 31 is driven by means of the sprocket chain 45, which engages with the sprocket wheel 46 on the roller 32 and the sprocket wheel 37 on the roller 37. On the left hand side of the machine (considered with reference to Fig. 3) the driving arrangement is as shown in Fig. 6. Accordingly, there is a sprocket chain 40 driven from a sprocket wheel 41 on the left hand end of the roller 8, and this sprocket chain 40 engages a sprocket wheel 50 fixed on the left hand end of the roller 28, a sprocket wheel 51 on the left hand end of roller 30, a sprocket wheel 52 on the left hand end of roller 29, a sprocket wheel 54 on the left hand end of roller 36, a sprocket wheel 55 on the left hand end of roller 38, and thence passes around an idler 56, and back to the sprocket wheel 41. On the left hand side of the machine there is also a tension device 44 engaging the chain 40. It will be observed that where the driving chain 40 on one side of the machine drives the upper one of a cooperating pair of rollers, the chain 40 on the other side of the machine drives the other one of said co operating pair of rollers. The result of this arrangement is a better balanced operation, since strains are distributed. It will also be observed that the rollers 38, 36, 25, 30, and 24 are in horizontal alinement and that the rollers 37, 32, 29, 19, 28 and 18 are in horizontal alinement. Furthermore, all of these rollers are of the same diameter, and they are preferably covered with canvas or other material such that the wires. and leaves will not readily adhere. Likewise, the aprons are preferably of canvas, and in the illustrated embodiment the aprons are provided with sprocket chains on each edge, shown in detail in Fig. 5, secured by means of attaching lugs 47 The purpose of this arrangement is to insure uniform travel of the aprons, in that the fabric is kept uniformly stretched. The sprocket chains on the two edges of the apron 31 are indicated by the numeral 45, the sprocket chains on the edges of the apron 22 are indicated by tl e reference numeral 57, and the sprocket chains on the edges of the apron 17 are indicated by the reference character 58. It

will be understood that the rollers 37 and 32 are provided with sprocket wheels 37 and 34 respectively on each end to be engaged by the chains 45, that the rollers 24 and 25 are provided with sprocket wheels 24 and 27 respectively on each end for engagement with the driving chains 57 on the edges of apron 22, and that the rollers 18 and 19 are provided with sprocket wheels 18 and 19', at their opposite ends respectively, for engagement with the driving chains 58 on the edges of the apron 17. These various sprocket wheels 18, 19, 24, 27, 34 and 37 must obviously be of the same diameter and with the same number of teeth.

Inasmuch as many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of my invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended'to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, 95 might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim:

1. In a device of the kind described, in combination, means for supporting a plurality of reels of wire, an adhesive bath 100 through which said wires are adapted to be passed, means for maintaining the wires in spaced relation upon their emergence from the bath, opposed compressing instrumentalities, and means for advancing the wires 105 in said spaced relation between said compressing instrumentalities.

2. In a device of the kind described, in combination, a support for a plurality of reels of wire and an adhesive bath through which said wires are adapted to be passed, means for giving the wires a downward tendency into the bath, means for maintaining the wires in spaced relation upon their emergence from the bath, an endless apron over which the wires are adapted to pass, a table between the courses of the aprons, and opposed compressing instrumentalities' beyond the table between which the wires are adapted to pass.

3. In a device of the kind described, in combination, means for supporting a plurality of reels of wire, a roller over which the wires are adapted to pass, an adhesive bath beyond the roller through which the wires are adapted to pass, means for giving the Wires a downward tendency into the bath, means for maintaining the wires in spaced relation upon their emergence from the bath, an endless apron beyond the bath,

a table between the courses of the apron, and compressing means between which the upper course of the apron runs.

L- In a device of the kind described, in combination, means for supporting a plurality of reels of wire, a corrugated roller over which the wires are adapted to pass, an adhesive bath beyond the roller through which the wires are adapted to pass, means for giving the wires a downward tendency into the bath, means for maintaining the wires in spaced relation upon their emergence from the bath, an endless apron beyond the bath over which the wires are adapted to pass, a table between the courses of the apron, and opposed compressing instrumentalities beyond the table between which the wires are adapted to pass.

5. In a device of the kind described, in combination, means for supporting a plurality of reels of wire, a corrugated roller over which the Wires are adapted to pass,

an adhesive bath beyond the roller through which the wires are adapted to pass, means for giving the wires a downward tendency into the bath, means for maintaining the wires in spaced relation upon their emergence from the bath, an endless apron beyond the bath over which the wires are adapted to pass, a table between the courses of the apron, opposed compressing instrumentalities beyond the table between which the wires are adapted to pass, a second endless apron having its courses running parallel to those of the first apron and having its lower course substantially in contact with the upper course of the first apron.

6. In a device of the kind described, in combination, means for supporting a plurality of reels of wire, a corrugated roller over which the wires are adapted to pass, an adhesive bath beyond the roller through which the wires are adapted to pass, means for giving the wires a downward tendency into the bath, means for maintaining the wires in spaced relation upon their emer-. gence from the bath, an endless apron beyond the bath over which the wires are adapted to pass, a table between the courses of the apron, opposed compressing instrumentalities beyond the table between which the wires are adapted to pass, a second endless apron having its courses running parallel to those of the first apron and having its lower course substantially in contact with the upper course of the first apron, said second-named apron extending beyond the firstnamed apron, and a blast pipe discharging against the lower course of the secondnamed apron beyond the end of the firstnamed apron.

7. In a device of the kind described, in combination, a support for a plurality of reels of wire, a corrugated roller over which the wires are adapted to pass, an adhesive bath beyond the roller through which the wires are adapted to pass, a spacer bar having teeth spaced to correspond with the corrugntions of the roller, means for giving the wires a downward tendency into the bath, an endless apron beyond the bath, a table between the courses of the apron, opposed compression rollers, a second apron parallel to the first and having its lower course substantially in contact with the upper course of the first-named apron, and a cutter adapted to sever the said wires.

8. In a device of the kind described, a plurality of pairs of rollers, endless aprons passing around certain of said rollers and driven thereby, and driving means at the opposite ends of said rollers, said driving means being connected to one of a pair of rollers at one end and to the other of said pair at the other end.

9. In a device of the kind described, a support for a roll of wire, an adhesive bath through which the wire is adapted to be passed, a support over which the wire passes upon its emergence from the bath, means for intermittently feeding forward the wire together with leaves which have been placed upon the successive lengths thereof as the latter rest upon the table, said feeding means being adapted to press the wire and leaves together and prevent the separation thereoi while intermittently advancing beyond the table, and means for severing the wire between leaves.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN BEISTLE. IVitnesses EMILY J. HAMILTON, ERROLL F. SINKE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

